Dmitri Shostakovich

Soviet composer and pianist (1906-1975)

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Lived 1906–1975, aged 69

MusiciansSinger / Musician

Wikipedia
84 languages
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Era
1906–1975
Aged 69
Known for
Dmitri Shostakovich. S…
1981

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

He wrote under Stalin's gaze, balancing symphonies that could be read as triumph or quiet subversion. Each premiere was a test: would the state hear allegiance or dissent?

Biography

About

Shostakovich arrived at 19 with his First Symphony in 1926, instantly marking him as a major composer in the young Soviet Union. His 1934 opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk succeeded until the government condemned it, putting his career in jeopardy. The Zhdanov Doctrine denounced his work again in 1948, bringing professional consequences that lasted years, though his censure was rescinded in 1956. He held seats in the Supreme Soviet and chaired the RSFSR Union of Composers, earning Orders of Lenin, even as state interventions shadowed performances like his Thirteenth Symphony in 1962. He left 15 sy…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

said1970

You ask if I would have been different without "Party guidance"? Yes, almost certainly.

— In conversation with Flora Litvinova, 1970; cited from Elizabeth Wilson Shostakovich: A Life Remembered (1994) pp. 425-6.

Dmitri Shostakovich

said4 Jul 1966

The real geniuses know where their writing has to be good and where they can get away with some mediocrity.

— In conversation with Isaac Glikman, July 4, 1966; Josiah Fisk & Jeff Nichols (eds.) Composers on Music (1997) p. 355.

Dmitri Shostakovich

saidSep 1965

Real music is always revolutionary, for it cements the ranks of the people; it arouses them and leads them onward.

— "The Power of Music" (1964), translated in Music Journal, September 1965, p. 37.

Dmitri Shostakovich

said25 Oct 1959

A creative artist works on his next composition because he is not satisfied with his previous one. When he loses a critical attitude toward his own work, he ceases to be an artist.

— New York Times, October 25, 1959.

Dmitri Shostakovich

said28 Aug 1955

A great piece of music is beautiful regardless of how it is performed.

— Letter to Isaac Glikman, August 28, 1955; Josiah Fisk & Jeff Nichols (eds.) Composers on Music (1997) p. 364.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

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Albums

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Piano Trios
1988
Symphony no. 11 in G minor, op. 103
1988
Symphony no. 7 "Leningrad"
1988
Shostakovich: Sonata for Violin and Piano, op. 134 / Franck: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major
1988
Symphony no. 7, the "Leningrad"
1988
Beethoven: Op. 135 / Schostakowitsch Op. 144
1988
Britten, Shostakovich: Sonatas for Cello and Piano / Prokofiev: Ballad, op. 15
1988
Symphnie nr. 10
1988
Symphony no. 4 in C, op. 43 / Suite no. 1 for Jazz Orchestra
1988
Symphony no. 11 “The Year 1905”
1988